New passage to open for airport train users at Seoul Station

A new transfer passage at Seoul Station will ensure much faster transit for passengers of airport trains. / Courtesy of Incheon Airport Railroad

By Kim Rahn

A transfer passage for passengers who use airport trains and subway lines No. 1 and 4 will open at Seoul Station on Saturday.

The Incheon Airport Railroad, the operator of the airport trains between Seoul Station and Incheon International Airport Station, said Monday that the new passage will ensure much faster transit.

So far, when people want to transfer to subway lines No. 1 or 4 after arriving at Seoul Station in an airport train, they had to have their tickets checked at the gate on the third basement floor of the station, go up to the waiting room for KTX bullet trains on the second floor, and head to the platform for the subway trains.

“Now with the new passageway, they can go directly from the third basement floor to the platforms for the subway lines,” an official from the railroad operator said.

With the passage, the transfer time from the airport railway to the subway line No. 4 will be cut from the current 15 to five minutes, and that to subway line No. 1, from 12 to seven minutes.

It is expected to provide easier access from Incheon airport to major tourist attractions in downtown Seoul, such as Myeongdong and Dongdaemun Market.

“There’s one thing to note. With the new passage, the transfer discount between trains is applied only when people use the new passageway, not anymore when they use the previous way passing through the KTX waiting room,” the official said.

The passage is 304 meters long, and has four moving walks, six escalators and three elevators.